Easy to Make Fire Roasted Salsa

This easy to make salsa develops spicy depth and flavor by blending fire roasted tomatoes, onions and peppers. Whether roasted in an oven or over a hot grill, this salsa carries a bold and spicy finish. Additionally no dicing or chopping is required. Simply blend the roasted ingredients together.

While most salsas require a lot of dicing, this salsa does not. In just minutes, the roasted ingredients are blended into a robust salsa that can be served at once.

Fire Roasted Salsa makes a flavorful seasoning as well…..

Of course, salsas are the perfect accompaniment to tacos, burritos, and let’s not forget our tortilla chips. But fire roasted salsa is so much more as it can be used to bring zesty, spicy flavor to taco meat as well. When I’m focused on eating healthy, my go to taco filling is usually made from ground turkey breast. However, turkey breast equates to dry taco filling. This is not by any fault of its own, but because it is lacking in fats. In order to overcome this, I add a 1/2 cup of roasted salsa. Not only will it enhance the flavor but it adds moisture as well.

To prepare this easy taco filling brown meat with 2-3 teaspoons of your normal taco seasoning. After the meat is completely cooked and browned, add a 1/2 cup of salsa and stir to combine. In just minutes, this simple taco filling is ready to serve.

In addition to seasoning taco filling, I like to use this salsa to add flavor to my Skinny Refried Beans. To add spicy character to this dish, simply replace the taco sauce with spicy salsa.

Chunky or Smooth

Fire Roasted Salsa made two ways….

While some prefer chunky salsa, others prefer a smoother pureed salsa. This is entirely up to your preferences, and either is easily achieved. Simply pulse the food processor until the desired texture is achieved. By using the pulse option on a food processor, you have more control over the texture. If a chunkier salsa is desired, pulse the machine is short spurts. This options allows you to intermittently check on the texture. Continue to pulse in short spurts until the texture is to your liking. However, if you prefer smoother salsa, hit that button and let her rip and whirl. In just minutes, your salsa is ready to serve.

Simple Ingredients, Excellent Salsa

Good salsa is easy to make and requires simple ingredients. All that is required is tomatoes, onions, garlic and a few chili peppers. I use both Jalapeno (red and green) as well as Serrano chilies. But this is because I prefer my salsa a little more picante. If you wish to tone down the heat, omit the Serrano chilies and replace with Jalapeno or another milder chili. Perhaps you would prefer to choose an Anaheim or mild Hatch chili.

From the Grill or Grill Pan

Another great feature of fire roasted salsa is that it can be roasted two ways. By far my favorite way to roast these ingredients is over a gas grill. And if you are charcoal griller, all the better. Roasting these simple ingredients over an open flame adds great flavor.

However grilling is not always possible due to weather conditions. When it isn’t possible to grill outdoors, oven roasting is the next best option. And really there are two options here as well. Choose from oven roasting vegetables in the oven or stove top roasting using a cast iron griddle. Both options will require high heat.

The Garlic

When grilling or roasting garlic, leave the outer skin on. This will help to protect the garlic from scorching and sticking to the grill or pan. Cook the garlic just until it begins to soften and the skin is golden.

After the garlic has cooled, it will pop out of the skin with a gentle squeeze. The garlic will most likely be the first to leave the grill as it cooks rather quickly. Also, please don’t hesitate to replace the grilled garlic with roasted garlic if you have some on hand.

The Onions

Green onions cook very quickly. Once the onions have nice brown grill marks and become limp, remove and let cool. The green onions will probably be the second item removed from the heat source.

However, the slices of white onion will be the last item to finish cooking. They are also the trickiest item to grill, as they have a tendency to fall apart when flipping over. If you have a grill basket, I highly recommend using one as this will keep your onions from falling through the grates.

The Tomatoes

When choosing tomatoes for this dish, look for firm ripe Roma tomatoes. Generally, beefsteak tomatoes or the common grocery store tomato on vines become watery when grilled. Roma tomatoes are the best for cooking. When choosing a tomato, look for a firm tomato with smooth firm skin. Avoid selecting tomatoes that are wrinkled and soft as they have a tendency of being mushy.

Whether grilling or roasting, rub the tomatoes with a few drops of olive oil. Doing so will help to keep them from sticking to the grill or pan.

When grilling or roasting the tomatoes remove from the heat source when the skin begins to char and blister. The tomatoes should feel somewhat firm when removed from the heat. An overcooked tomato will deflate and not be able to retain its shape.

The Chilies

In order to balance the flavor of my salsa a combination of both Jalapeno and Serrano chilies are used. If you like salsa with a bit of heat, stick to the recipe. However, if you are not a lover of spicy heat, replace the Serrano chili with a milder chili pepper. I recommend using a Poblano, Mild Hatch or Anaheim chilies.

In developing this recipe, I tried a combination of variables including leaving the Serrano chili out entirely. I found the salsa lacking in flavor tasting more like tomato sauce. For that reason I recommend using the minimum of each ingredient called for in this recipe and swapping out different chilies if you don’t like the hot ones.

Cooking the Chilies

When grilling or roasting the chilies, cook until the skin begins to char and blister. Whether roasting or grilling always rotate the chilies around turning them a quarter turn every 4 minutes or so. This will ensure that the chilies are roasted on all sides. Once the chili peppers have blistered and deflated, remove from the heat source and place in a small bowl covering with plastic wrap. This will make the skin removal easier. Before processing, cut away the stem and discard. Peel away as much of the skin as possible. However, if it is stubborn and won’t release don’t worry. It will blend up nicely in the salsa.

To Make the Salsa

When making my salsa, all the ingredients are dumped into a food processor. But first make sure to remove the stems from the chilies, squeeze the garlic out of it’s skin and cut the top of the tomato removing what I like to call “it’s belly button”.

To make a chunky style salsa, pulse the food processor just until the salsa reaches the desired texture. For a smooth salsa continue processing until the salsa is well blended.

If you don’t have a food processor, the same technique can be made with a blender or an immersion “stick” blender.

Serve immediately, or store in a sealable container in the refrigerator. As your fresh salsa does not contain any stabilizers or preservatives, I would not recommend storing for much longer than 5-7 days.

A 1/2 cup serving Zero WW Smart Points!

Buon Appetito!

Print